Jul 3 CS EXCLUSIVE | Dinnerdate

Every so often an artist comes along that just captivates you. Not only with their musical output, but also with their creative progression. Over the past year we've had the pleasure to watch, promote, and connect with one such producer — Munich's Simon Hope aka Dinnerdate. With outstanding remixes of artists like José González, Last Lynx, and Editors, in addition to stellar originals Going On and Souls Together, to say his swift rise is inevitable would be an understatement. All praise aside, he's one producer who's actions we're excessively excited to watch in the future. Wait, that was more praise wasn't it? Anyways, over the past week, Simon was generous enough to take the time to put together an excellent exclusive mix for Caveman Sound, and sit down with us to answer a few questions. Get to know the German producer, grab your long weekend playlist below, and enjoy!

Caveman Sound: You’ve come an incredibly long way since starting Dinnerdate a little over a year ago. How have you evolved over that time?

Dinnerdate: A rather difficult question. Well one thing that has certainly evolved is the sound-quality of my productions in my opinion. I've learned quite a few things about mixdown and sound design from when I first started with DD until now. I think creativity-wise I'm still the same guy, however with a more synthesized twist. Over the course of one year I've been working towards becoming a more original artist, rather than a remixer. The people haven't heard much of that "original me" yet, but they will soon and it will be a really cool thing to see how fans will react :)

CS: What artists have been an integral part of your musical upbringing, and an inspiration to your sound?

DD: So this is rather stereo-typical but I remember my first favorite tune ever, being Around The World by Daft Punk. That was in first grade I believe, when I was 7 years old. So I guess you can say I've had an affinity to electronic music early on :)

But honestly I had a phase where I listened to pretty much everything until I really got into electronic music round about 2003 or so. At first it was trance guys like ATB and old Tiesto. Then I went to my first festival (Ultra in 2007) and I turned to guys like Dirty South and Kaskade. I've only been listening to the more underground side of electronic music for about two years now and I'm still discovering the variety of it!

CS: Souls Together is one of our favorite tracks of yours so far, which you made with Fabich & Ferdinand Weber. How did you guys come together? Any more collaborations in the future?

DD: Chris Fabich tweeted me one day, asking me to visit their studio (since we're all in Munich, Germany) and throw some ideas together. A few visits & lot's of shenanigans later "Souls Together" was the result. We're actually really good friends now and have another collab in the works and also one with another amazing Munich talent Max aka. WKND. That collab will kill the internet (we hope)!

CS: As a producer, what’s key in setting yourself apart from others in such a saturated landscape?

DD: It's a healthy mix of observing the trend, not giving a f*** about what others expect from you, and working your lazy ass off.

CS: We’ve heard whispers of your forthcoming EP, any details you can tell us about that?

DD: It started as an EP, but it became something much better...

CS: How do you prepare when you’re ready to make a track? Do you have a particular process?

DD: Not at all. Inspiration can be a b*tch sometimes. It comes and goes as it pleases. It can make you feel like a king or like a miserable twat. Every track of mine starts differently and can take anything from a few hours to a whole month. Any longer than that and I usually give up on the track and move on (otherwise it'll drive me nuts).

CS: It’s always interesting to hear who artist’s themselves are listening to. Can you tell us your top 5 tracks at the moment.

DD: Can't really tell you a top 5 right now, because there's too many good tracks. But as you can guess I'm really into the sound WKND and F&FW are curating at the moment. Also the dudes Lido and TACHES are KILLING it at the moment.

CS: How do you go about discovering new music?

DD: Anywhere and everywhere really.

CS: Your music is the soundtrack to what city?

DD: Dinnertown or Date City

CS: What’s on your plate for the rest of the year?

DD: Something really big is coming very soon ;) that's all I'm saying for now though!

We want to say a big thanks to Simon for taking the time to have a chat with us. And of course for soundtracking our near future with such a killer guest mix. Stay connected with him via the links below.